I disagree whole heartedly with bumping up an age division especially with the younger kids. I hate having to do this with my son or with anyone else on our team. We do it to get matches in not because we want to. It is either that or not wrestle at all.
The suggestion to allow bumping at state is not an answer. This does not solve the problem at state it only compounds it. It amounts to a buy off or concession for not dealing with the issue of expanding the weight classes and eliminating the redundancies of having too many lower end weight classes.
If you eliminated the 6U allowance to wrestle up at state alone, many of the lower brackets would empty. They have their own state x2 so why a third? The reality is they are a filler for big teams to pad out their team scores at state. Not too hard to figure that one out. Additionally, the state tourney is banking on filling out all these lower weight brackets with 6U wrestlers from big teams as they are the largest wrestling age group in the state. Most of these kids show up and get hammered but hey they paid to be there so all is good for USAWKS. They should just feel honored they got to go right?
If your 6U is that good and needs a challenge. Then save your money and take them to any one of the 5-6 National Kids Tournaments that are within a half a days drive from just about anywhere in KS and put them up against kids their own age. KC alone has 2 in the next month or two. Trust me you won't regret it. These are very tough meets and you get a chance to see what other people are doing. Let that be the season ender if you want it to be. Makes you wonder why we haven't hosted a National Kids Tourney here though doesn't it. The trip to Topeka while in KS is more expensive for us than Tulsa Nationals and USJOC simply because of the hotel situation. We stayed at the Hilton in Tulsa for $51.00 a night for instance this year. Far better than some of the pig pens we stayed at in Topeka and spent twice that.
MO has a pretty simple state weight bracket system set up in my opinion. They seem to be more on a modern or logical scale. Check it out at
http://www.missouriusawrestling.org/results.htm look at 2008 results. Fewer brackets more weight allowances that solves the problem. Check it out.
Bumping up an age group should be a special instance and not a common occurance. I agree some older wrestlers can manage well enough to meet the challenge and some are very sucessful whomever they wrestle. State however, is not the time or the place to do it in my opinion. I know it is a big deal in OK and they encourage it some at the local meets but I think that is mainly because they don't have the depth of athletes that we do and have a hard time filling out the brackets. I don't believe that they allow that at the state meet on any level at least that is what I have been told.
If I were to push for changes then it would be to make all classes 275/285lb limit and follow a scale much like MO with reduced classes and expanded weights. Not allow 6U wrestlers to wrestle up or participation at 8U-16U State. Support and Fund the 6U State in Ottawa and the State Novice Championships in Derby. All of these changes allow for more kids to be involved and wrestle in their own age groups.
